Steps to take?

[Darwinist]

Awesome feedback on my other post, it is MUCH appreciated. I've learned so much in so little time from you guys.

I'm another year or so away from really being ready to say I'm finished with my manuscript, but I'm wondering from a professional standpoint - what's a good order to go in once you feel you're done?

Is there a good place to safely shill out your work for feedback, editing, and suggestions? Do you submit directly to a publisher or should you find an agent first?

If it helps, my manuscript is going to work a lot like Ludlum's Bourne Identity - its all one story, but broken into three acts at strategic points in the story. It's told as three separate novellas that intertwine into one overall story arc.

[EmmettSpain]

From my experience, it's much better to start with an agent. Publishers tend to treat the agents as a filtering process (i.e. if someone chose to put the time and effort into representing you, then you must have a bit of talent). I haven't met anyone who was successful in going straight to the publisher, but I suppose that's not to say it hasn't happened! I just figure that with everyone at these places (and any business for that matter) being so busy, they are less likely to pick up a manuscrpt from someone they haven't heard of, or have no professional connection to.

Beta readers are vital... friends and family are a great place to start. Make sure you choose people who are willing to be honest with you, though... they make your work better by pointing out the areas that didn't make sense or could be improved.

Only advice I can give you is that if you're going to get it professionally edited before you take it to a publisher (whatever happens, it needs to be professionally edited at some point, which = $$), make sure you get the person's qualifications up front, as you'll need to cite them to the publisher should things go ahead. Publishers tend to have their own editor's they work with and trust, so they might want you to fork up the cash to pay for their services, even after you have had someone else do the work (if they don't feel the other person's work is up to scratch)... so choose wisely.

Anyway... hope that's useful to you!

Oh, and my book just came out this week! Check out http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/OldHaunts.html ... Ha! Shameless plug!

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

From my experience, it's much better to start with an agent. Publishers tend to treat the agents as a filtering process (i.e. if someone chose to put the time and effort into representing you, then you must have a bit of talent). I haven't met anyone who was successful in going straight to the publisher, but I suppose that's not to say it hasn't happened!

I'm married to someone who did exactly that, so.  Also, these days, good agents are unlikely to look at you unless you already have an offer, so it's a bit of a vicious circle.

I just figure that with everyone at these places (and any business for that matter) being so busy, they are less likely to pick up a manuscrpt from someone they haven't heard of, or have no professional connection to.

This is why one goes to conventions and is interesting. Editors are hyuman beings too, and will remember people who are interesting.

[Darwinist]

tyvm for the replies, I went deep into the archives and found someone else asked a similar question a few years ago. Strangely, I think I remember seeing Neuro's name in one of the replies too. It's exhausting and time consuming, but there was a wealth of great info in some of the early board questions.

Namely, some people mentioned the vicious cycle with agents and publishers. The waiting game some guy went thru before getting his rejection notices. Another one I picked up was that people recommended having at least three bodies of work before actively marketing and soliciting.

Granted this was info that dated back to like 2006, but I'd assume most of it still applies.

[EmmettSpain]

Mind if I ask you what your manuscript is about?

[Darwinist]

Not at all, its a three part novella told from two points of view. The protagonist for the opening and the close, and the antagonist for part two. It's written in first person narrative, the antagonist was such a fun character I couldn't resist the urge to write a bit of it from his perspective. To really flesh out why he was who he is.

Both characters are immortal and have a unique collection of elemental based powers that they use. The powers themselves are just a minor part of the story and played into the action subtly so as not to scare off regular background characters. The narrative is driven in the idea of what two people like this would be like after centuries of fighting. I reference a few points in history to support this (revisionist, I know) such as Alexander the Great vs Darius III and the Hatfield v McCoy family feuds in the 1800s.

If any of you have access to the OWG on Kelley's board, I just posted an excerpt of it earlier today.

[Darwinist]

lol, just re-read that and realized I didn't tell you much of anything about the story itself.

Basic foundation is that these two immortal beings hold a special connection to the object that made them immortal. After centuries of being hidden from them both, its unearth by some developers. Thus begins a race by both parties to retrieve it before it creates another rival - and to keep it hidden from the other person. First section is the protagonists story from the beginning until a mid-point. Second part is the antagonist covering his POV from the beginning to a spot a little further from the midpoint... with subtle nods to events that happened in the first part that he influenced in one way or another. Last part is the protagonists POV again from the mid-point where we left off until the conclusion.

I like the idea of building a universe for my character, this was mainly just an exercise for me to do that. I created a story with two characters and how they intertwine together. How the events in the one story influence the events in the other and vice versa. I'm hoping to extend that to other books as well. Bit characters, events, or objects showing up in other stories that are completely unrelated... yet so familiar. I like complexity.

[belial.1980]

That sounds really interesting. I like the concept of two characters eternally engaged at war. (I wrote a short story with a similar concept back in the day but couldn't flesh it out in a satisfactory way.) The POV switching you're utilizing sounds cool too.

Are you close to finishing the manuscript or are you still in the early stages?

[Darwinist]

finished the first act the other day, still needs some rewrites but I was gonna let it stew for a bit first. A couple chapters into the second now.

[Darwinist]

I'm bi-polar with the idea of releasing my work. It's sort of the same for any other writer, I suppose. Some people crave the feedback, others abhor it. You either write for all, or realize the rent is due next month. I'm caught in the middle. I love to entertain, but at the same time I fear putting out my creative license for someone to potentially steal. In any event, the knowledge that you're not a failure outweighs the concerns of plagiarism.

So if anyone is curious, here's a link to a rough draft of the first novella, told from the protagonist's point of view. Its the beginning six chapters of the fourteen I wrote. It's not the antagonist POV chapter I mentioned above, that character is scarcely mentioned in the first novella.

http://imposter.weebly.com/super.html

[EmmettSpain]

The POV switching for books is a really cool idea... go for it! Hope it's a success for you when it all comes together